Careful assessment and policies on genetically modified crops could contribute to agricultural development and food security.

Organising research into different types of knowledge can promote decision-making based on evidence from a range of sources.

The Rio+20 Secretariat's analysis of S&T trends and achievements since the 1992 Earth Summit points to ways of accelerating progress.

Technology and scientific research can help communities in the developing world build resilience to disasters.

Scientists can help advance policies to promote agricultural practices that can reduce emissions and boost yields.

City planners can find a way to use existing evidence and deal with uncertainty in designing strategies for climate change adaptation.

Rio+20 is an opportunity to focus on harnessing scientific evidence and good governance to improve the management of water resources.

Scientists can help smallholder farmers get more out of their crops in changing food markets.

Planting trees in dryland regions can negatively impact biodiversity, and policies must promote the practice on a smaller scale.

Groundwater storage can improve water security and help poor communities adapt to climate change.

ICT projects can be strategic tools for development if they consider social contexts and are tailored to community needs.

South–South research collaboration can be a powerful strategy for boosting scientific capacity and achieving common goals. But it should not be embraced uncritically, says Athar Osama.

An assessment of national tuberculosis policies in select countries emphasises the need for more public engagement.

Recommendations on how policymakers can decrease the joint burden of tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.

Growing dryland populations are depleting their natural resources, while increasingly-settled agriculture ignores the traditional knowledge needed to tackle future uncertainties, says David Thomas.

Valuing the benefits ecosystems give us is a vital step in ensuring their sustainable use and conservation. Anantha Duraiappah shows how environmental economics offers the best way yet to tackle the job.

Ten years since the UNCCD came into force, the problems remain. Despite some successes, varying definitions and restricted finance limit the convention's effectiveness, as Lindsay Stringer explains.

Biodiversity in the world's drylands is fragile, easily disrupted and under threat. John Lemons sets out guidelines for tailoring policies to best protect these uniquely adapted species.

With water scarcity already affecting over a billion people, dryland populations should combine traditional and modern knowledge to manage water access sustainably, says Theib Oweis.